A news story I could hardly believe

A sharp-eyed officer at Schiphol airport, Amsterdam, noticed that one of two dogs brought back from Colombia by a British couple looked ill. The animals were X-rayed and it was found that someone had literally stitched 21 canisters of drugs in their stomachs. I am not exactly an animal rights activist; and I am not easily shocked; but there are things that one does not imagine... unless one has a very, very sick imagination... It is just the thought of taking something that has no defence, a creature that is utterly dependent on you, and making it suffer, exposing it to a possible painful death (imagine if one of those canisters had ruptured), for no better reason than your own vile greed. I hope the carriers (who must have known what they were bearing) and their suppliers spend a good long time in prison. Someone who could do that to a dog could do it to a baby.

latest news about the dogs

The two travellers with the dogs have been condemned to a total of 13 years in jail. I do not think it is quite enough, but at least that means that (on the average of British justice) they will taste four years each of the slammer, which is better than nothing.

And yet more...

One of the dogs actually died. Every time I hear about this thing, it gets worse.